Here Comes Edelweiss!
by ConfoederatioHelvetica
Summary: Long they have watched the other schools compete for glory on the field, but never took part themselves. But now, in the aftermath of Ooarai's stunning victory against the Selection University's Alice Shimada, they too must do battle in the field of Panzerfahren to save their home and each other! How will Ooarai face this new adversary?
1. It's Edelweiss!

There was a knock on the door, and Vreni looked up from the page of the school newspaper she was perusing.

"Yes?"

The door opened and a young woman walked in. She wore the same uniform as Vreni did; white blouse, laced red vest and just knee-length blue skirt - the school uniform. They both had their hair in braids, but while Vreni had hers starting at the crest of her head and slowly becoming looser downwards until they flowed into the rest of her shoulder-length hair, Heidi had hers in two long, seperate ones with blue ribbons tied into bows on the end.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry to disturb, but we have a guest."

Vreni furrowed her brow and looked at the calendar that sat on her desk. According to her schedule, no guest was due to arrive today, or at any time for several months.

"Who is it?"

As an answer, Heidi stepped back and allowed the guest to enter.

She was an older woman; middle-aged, with long platinum-grey hair, a stern expression and a seemingly perpetual frown.

Vreni immediately rose to her feet.

"This is unexpected; the master of the Shimada style coming to visit us? You should have given advance notice."

"I doubt it would have made much difference to the amount of preparation you could have undertaken." Master Shimada scoffed.

Ignoring the biting remark, Vreni continued without losing her composure.

"What brings you here, to our humble school?" she inquired

"Should I fetch refreshments?" Heidi proferred from the doorway, but before Vreni could answer, the guest did so for her.

"Do not bother; I will not be staying long. I have come here to tell you that you should drop the pretence."

"I'm sorry, I do not know what you are referring to."

"Every school that practices Panzerfahren takes part in at least one tournament. Every school, but yours."

Vreni smiled and gestured non-comittally with her hands.

"That is not something I can influence. Our school charter clearly states-"

"I am well aware of your school charter," she was interrupted "but that changes nothing. A school which dedicates such a sizeable amount of time and resources to an activity it does not fully participate in should have its very existence questioned."

"Again, that is not for me to decide, but MEXT. And forgive me if I am wrong, but that discussion has been had a long time ago, and an agreement was reached."

"Recent events are forcing MEXT to reconsider."

"Recent events such as the defeat of the University team against an équipe which, prior to their surprising victory of the national championship no one had even heard of?"

The newspaper which lay open on the desk featured an extensive section on the goings-on at other schools, and reported in detail of the Selection University versus Ooarai Academy match, the result of which had shocked the entire world of Panzerfahren.

This seemed to touch a nerve.

"Should you fail to make use of your funding properly, you will have the program pulled and the school shut down"

"Is that a threat?"

"A warning. What you do with it is for you to decide. But if my own daughter could not defeat Ooarai, then I am absolutely certain you would not either."

And with that, Master Shimada left, shutting the door behind her with somewhat more force than was necessary.

Vreni sighed and sat back down, while Heidi looked from her to the close door and back again.

"Did just happend what I believe just happened?"

"I think we got snubbed by the Master of the Shimada style."

"Surely you will not give in to her prattle?"

"Unfortunately it is not merely prattle. It is true that MEXT has been looking to cut expenses, but now with Ooarai gone their eye seems to have fallen onto us. While it is true that the school charter marks us as an exception, I believe that this will no longer suffice. If our school is to survive, we must act quickly and without hesitation."

Heidi's eyes widened.

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

Vreni folded up the newspaper and bent down to pull open the bottom-most drawer of the filing cabinet integrated into her desk. But instead of files, it contained a neatly folded uniform; pants, jacket, leather belt and sitting on top of the stack a hat, which she retrieved and turned over in her hands, pondering.

The Képi, or Käppi, as they knew it, was grey as well, with a black vizor, and golden laurel wreaths circling around its entire circumference. Something so simple, yet so important, for it was the only object of its kind in the entire school, and had never before been worn with the purpose that it would be soon.

Vreni carefully placed it on her head and pulled down the vizor as to make it sit properly against her cranium.

"Send out the word to the newspaper club; they are to begin hanging up posters immediately. Tomorrow morning I want everyone ready to begin training.

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes, are mobilizing."

Heidi saluted her now commander and left the room, shutting the door behind herself.

It only took a few minutes for Vreni to change uniforms. The sensation was somewhat unfamiliar; the clothes were stiff and she was forced to hold her chin high, lest the collar chafe her neck.

Finally, she stood with her back to the room, gazing out of the high, curtained window behind her working desk. Its wings were open, and a gentle breeze wafted in, bringing with it the scent of saltwater and pine trees.

Before her gaze the lake glittered in the afternoon sun, with the town resting on its shores, a modest collection of wood and stone dwellings of different sizes, roughly grouped around a church whose steeple was clearly visible over the tiled rooftops where a distant bell chimed the hour of the day. And in the far distance, the forest-covered slopes of the academy ship's mountain range rose into the sky, the trees' timbers and dark green foliage like ballgowns swayed in the wind beneath the watchful vigilance of the barren peaks.

This was their home, and they would do everything to protect it.

For the first time in their school history, Edelweiss Academy was mobilizing.


	2. It's a new Tournament!

After their victory over Selection University, Ooarai had not forgotten the great favour showed to them in their hour of need by their erstwhile adversaries turned allies, and today – exactly one month since the match – they showed their gratitude in a way only Ooarai could, with a grand celebratory party at the Ooarai tank club's garages.  
And no one wanted to miss a party hosted by Miho Nishizumi, the commander who had brought them all together and reminded them that there was more to Panzerfahren than just winning.

"Everyone, thank you for coming!" Miho called through the megaphone to the assembly.

"It means a lot to all of us at Ooarai that you came to help us save our school ship. Thank you also very much to Anzio for providing the food for this party."

There was a brief round of applause, and Anchovy waved off the gratitude as though her contribution was negligible.

"No no, please, it was nothing; everyone knows Anzio makes the best food."

"As you know," Miho continued "The tournament is going to be held again very soon, so that's why I hope we'll all remember this, and compete fairly in the coming matches."

Unnoticed by almost everyone, Alisa received an elbow in the ribs from Kay, the meaning of which was immediately apparent.

"I wish everyone good luck, and now please enjoy yourself!"

Anglerfish team's Panzer IV fired a training round into the air, and the opening ceremony thusly concluded, everyone began to mix and mingle and enjoy the fantastic buffet.

Miho hopped down from the small stage and weaved through the milling girls, making her way to the far side and briefly listening in on people's conversations.

"We have recently managed to procure funds in order to execute our plans to acquire a Tortoise. The tank, naturally; pets tend to distract one during Panzerfahren." Darjeeling confided in Maho "However, some have raised objections as to the choice of tank, as our roster currently is not exactly lacking in the armour department."

"Personally," she replied "I would consider a Comet. I'm aware you already have a squad of Crusader MkIIIs, but the Comet - while being a cruiser tank and therefore faster than a Churchill or a Mathilda - also has armament with the possibility to be superior to our own Panther."

"I suppose we should take that into account. Some may consider it bad practice to discuss such things with a possible opponent, but I believe that in the grand scale materiel makes little difference provided that one side does not completely eclipse the other."

"I agree. The commander is of far greater importance."

At the buffet, Katyusha was perusing the dishes on display, but was not able to see all of it.

"Nonna!"

"Yes"

And with that, Katyusha was hoisted up onto Nonna's shoulders once more, though now she could actually see the food, she didn't seem any more pleased.

"What is this?! Is this supposed to be a meal?!"

"You should try some, Katyusha; it's really good."

"Where is the borsht? The piroshky? No one can survive on this in the Siberian wastes!"

"One doesn't need a very heavy diet in the warm climate of the south."

"Nishizumi-dono!"

Out of nowhere, Miho was suddenly confronted by Kinuyo Nishi of Chi-Ha-Tan.

"Y-yes?" Miho responded, hesitantly.

"We've learned a lot since our last match together!" Nishi declared, beaming at her.

"Really?"

Nishi nodded vigorously.

"I've decided to take Fukuda's advice into serious consideration and we're now in the process of making it an official part of our battle tactics! It's shameful how many times our glorious charges, so assured of victory, end in humiliating defeat, a shameful display! But adopting a stealthy approach showed great promise against Selection University, so our new plan is to sneak around at the beginning of a match…and then commit to a glorious charge!"

She smiled broadly at this new-found philosophy.  
Enthusiasm was something that the members of Chi-Ha-Tan had in spades, if nothing else.

"That's great news, Nishi. If you do that, I'm sure you'll begin to win more matches."

"Yes! And it's all thanks to you, Nishizumi-dono. You have showed us the way, and for that we will be forever grateful! Consider your debt to our school wiped away by the bonds of comradeship!"

Aside from the gathering, the three members of the Jatkosota team were merely observing the goings-on, their silence only broken by the soft tones of Mika's Kantele.

"I seem to remember," Aki raised "At the match, you said you don't condone hedonism. Yet here we are."

Mika paused for a moment, her fingers to pluck the next note.

"Everyone else is here, and I didn't want to be rude by refusing." She responded.

"Hey 'chovy, why're you looking so gloomy?" Anzu asked, appearing at the Duce's elbow from nowhere.

In fact, Anchovy, who was usually the loudest – possibly apart from Kay – had said very little since her initial remark at the catering, and before being spoken to by the President, had gazed into the distance, looking uncharacteristically thoughtful and melancholic.

"W-what? It's nothing! Nothing, I tell you!"

"Oh?" Anzu mused, looking entirely unconvinced.

"I want more pasta!" the Duce called out, in a faint attempt to change the subject.

"Pasta, Duce?" Pepperoni asked, surprised "I thought you said you'd given up eating Pasta?"

"'Given up eating pasta'?" Anzu repeated, intrigued "I would have never thought in my life that I would hear Anchovy, Il Duce of Anzio, give up pasta!"

"Yes! Since we lost that practice match against Edelweiss, Il Duce hasn't been herself!"

"Pepperoni…" Carpaccio whispered "We weren't supposed to talk about that to anyone."

Pepperoni looked as though she'd just bitten into a slice of lemon.

"Oh…I forgot" she smiled in embarrassment "Sorry"

All the commotion had begun to attract a small crowd, and Anchovy was looking more and more displeased with the amount of unwanted attention.

"What happened, 'chovy?" Anzu investigated, prodding the far taller girl both literally and metaphorically for information.

Anchovy looked uncomfortably around at all the people gathered around the three of then, as if searching for a way out.

When she found none, she sighed, defeated.

"Oh…yes, yes it's true, we lost another one."

"There there 'chovy, you'll win again someday" Anzu cooed.

"That's not the problem!" Anchovy snarled, clenching her teeth "We lost against a team who had never before practiced Panzerfahren! We lost against complete amateurs! At least-" she paused, and her demeanour immediately changed from anger to confusion "at least, we thought they were complete amateurs…"

"Like us, you mean?"

"I…that was different!" Anchovy exclaimed, flustered "You were led by a Nishizumi!"

"Eh?" Miho, still engaged in conversation with Nishi, turned at hearing her own name, and blushed when she fully registered the statement, waving her hands frantically in front of her, as if batting away an angry wasp "N-no, it wasn't because of me, I just…" her voice trailed off.

"Underselling yourself as always, _Kommandant_!" Akiyama said, beaming with admiration.

"Who did you say that school was?" Anzu asked.

"Edelweiss Academy."

"Never heard of 'em." Anzu said, rummaging around in her bag of chips "Nishizumi?"

Miho shook her head.

"No…I haven't."

"I'm not surprised."

Maho and Erika had listened in and shouldered their way to the front.

"They are a very reclusive school. Only a handful have ever heard of them."

"That's an understatement!" Anchovy added "We knew of their existence, but we had no idea they even HAD a Panzerfahren team!"

"You wouldn't have."

"But at least we weren't only ones who underestimated them." Pepperoni stated proudly, and for Anzio, this really could have almost been a point of pride.

"Is that so?" Darjeeling inquired, who had – up to now – not shown much interest in the matter.

"We found out later that over the past month, they've gone up against several other schools in practice matches." Carpaccio elaborated.

Anchovy turned to Miho.

"They beat us harder than even you did…and I thought we'd learned so much from watching you fight."

"I don't believe anyone is better than Nishizumi!" Akiyama called out, making Miho smile in an embarrassed sort of way.

"Sister, you said you knew them? Have you met anyone from there?" she asked, as of to distract from what Yukari had said.

Maho nodded.

"Briefly. I suppose it was due to a certain cultural affinity. There's not much I can say about them."

Miho looked slightly disappointed.

"Edelweiss…" Hana said, thoughtfully "That's the name for a variety of plants of the genus _Leontopodium_ , which can be found in mountainous regions across Europe and Asia. There are even some species native to Japan, but most famous is the _Leontopodium Alpinum_ , which can be found in the Central European Alps."

"When we received the request from them, I thought it would be an easy match, and something to get morale up for the upcoming tournament." Anchovy admitted "I knew of Edelweiss – we've had some exchanges in the past – but that they would end up beating us was not something I thought would happen."

"Yukari, you know almost everything about every school, what can you tell us about this one?" Miho asked.

"Hm…not much, honestly." Yukari admitted, blushing slightly "I know they're a reclusive school that keep to themselves. Oh, and if it wasn't obvious by the name, they're modeled on Switzerland."

"Switzerland?" Miho asked.

"Yes." Yukari nodded "You wouldn't expect that to be possible would you? But actually, Switzerland has a turbulent military history. They maintain a very large militia army, which has a long tradition of extremely accurate marksmanship. The country's difficult terrain acts as a natural defense, meaning that any invading army would have serious problems just moving troops through the country, while all the time being harassed by deadly sniper fire, long-range artillery bombardments from hidden mountain fortresses, and demolition of strategic bridges, railways and streets. This was partially the reason why Switzerland survived two World Wars and managed to stay neutral both times."

It was anyone's guess what kind of picture Yukari's description painted in Anchovy's mind, but Anzio's Duce, whose expression had grown ever more comically sickened during the lecture, seemed to be not the only one who was surprised at these news, as the surrounding faces clearly told.

It was hard to meld the Japanese image of the Swiss as a pastoral mountain people with Yukari's tale of a nation so deeply entrenched in war.

"Edelweiss Academy takes their role as seriously as anyone here," Maho interrupted, who seemed entirely unsurprised by the anecdote "So while they may have never participated in a tournament, you should have never underestimated them."

"I know…" Anchovy said, resignedly.

"Their actions are suspicious." Maho explained further "This is not characteristic. It is reasonable to assume that something spurred them into action."

"Do you know this saying: 'It is better not to wake a sleeping lion?" Darjeeling queried.

"Sydney, wasn't it?" Pekoe suggested.

"Maybe they're participating next year?" Miho theorized.

"If they do, we'll sweep them aside like the driven snow with our tanks! None shall stand in the path of Pravda's glorious victory!" Katyusha announced from on top of Nonna's shoulders.

"What makes you think you'll win?" Erika asked, pointedly.

"Pravda will win because I say it will! And if I want something, I'll get it!"

"Except at our 'Stalingrad'" Erwin coughed, and the history club members chuckled at the memory.

"We'll win back our title." Erika proclaimed "Our shells will strike you like the _Freikugeln_ in the opera ' _Der Freischütz'_!"

"My my, you all seem quite assured of your victory." Darjeeling noted.

"Shall we show them how it is done properly?" Assam inquired, a smile spreading across her face.

"And not spill a single drop of tea." Darjeeling agreed, raising her own cup delicately, as if toasting Assam's words.

"Ain't gonna happen! Sad to have to break it to ya, but we're gonna win this time!" Kay interjected.

And with the status quo once more established – everyone bickering over whose style of Panzerfahren was the best and who was going to win this year - Edelweiss was quickly forgotten.

After all, compared to Black Forest Peak, Pravda, Saunders and St. Gloriana, how could they ever hope to succeed?

But despite what her sister had told them on the matter, that Edelweiss took the sport as seriously as any other school – and possibly more so than some – it seemed that only Miho had taken it to heart, because she knew all too well what an underdog was capable of.

* * *

The new season of Panzerfahren dawned, and once more lots were drawn to determine which school would face off against which in the first round of the tournament.  
While last time Miho had known none of the Captains present – save for her own sister of course – this time she was more at ease and exchanged friendly greetings with those she knew, and was looking forward to get to meet new people during this year's tournament.  
In particular though, she was vigilant for anyone she couldn't remember seeing last year, which would either dispel of affirm Maho's theory concerning Edelweiss.  
Anzio had gone up first, and - drawing the number 4 - all Anchovy could do was hope that they were not going to be pitted against one of the stronger teams.  
There followed three minor schools; BC Freedom High, Blue Division High and Bonple High, none of which Miho knew much about, but thought that Bonple's school logo looked kind of cute.  
Then came Chi-Ha-Tan, and Miho hoped that Nishi would really put into practice what she said she would, and maybe not get knocked out in the first round as usual.  
And then, out of nowhere; Edelweiss

The girl who got up onto the stage to draw her lot looked as though she'd leapt out of a postcard. She wore a very colourful, very traditional dress, with some items of her clothing stitched with a white floral pattern; possibly the flower that was their school's namesake. Her braided blonde hair cascaded down the back of her neck, and her eyes were the clearest of blue.  
Was this Edelweiss' commander?  
There were some murmurs from the gathered audience as she delicately drew the number 15, held it up for all to see, then took her place once more.  
Miho leaned out over her row of seats as discreetly as she could to get a better look at where she was sitting.  
Most schools – including Ooarai- had brought quite a sizeable delegation, that is to say at least five people. The only exceptions seemed to be Jatkosota, which had only the three, and Edelweiss, which consisted solely of two; the girl who'd drawn the number, and another, identically-dressed.  
While this was a bit odd, Miho supposed that this went along with the school's theme of reclusiveness and the resultant aura of secrecy.

"Those dresses look so cute" she heard Saori whisper from beside her.

The number-drawing continued, and finally all sixteen schools had been matched up against one another, with some interesting combinations.  
Anzio was to go up against St. Gloriana, which must have not at all been to Anchovy's liking.  
Chi-Ha-Tan faced Saunders, which seemed woefully one-sided.  
Maho's team was due to compete against Waffle Academy, and Miho couldn't help but feel sorry for them, though they were sure to put up a good fight before their inevitable defeat.  
They themselves were matched against Jatkosota, which was sure to be a challenging fight.  
Miho recalled that back in her days at Black Forest Peak, they'd had a training match against them, and they had proven difficult to defeat, not to mention that Ooarai themselves had been outright beaten by them once before.  
And Edelweiss was going to fight against Maginot.  
Miho considered this to be even on the whole.  
While Maginot had many decades of experience in Panzerfahren, their latest string of defeats had led them to give up their traditional tactic of static defense and adopt the more mobile 'St. Cyr-style', and it would take some time for everyone to adjust fully.  
Edelweiss' greatest weakness was also its strength; while they were entirely new to the competitive scene, they'd maintained a Panzerfahren club for many years, and no one knew what tanks they fielded, nor what tactics they would use.  
But Miho couldn't concern herself too much with this; after all, they were the reigning champion, and it sure would be nice if Ooarai won the tournament two years in a row.


End file.
